Eldene Pre-School and Toddlers were on the receiving end of a much-needed charitable windfall to help refurbish their vandalised play area.

Swindon’s Wasdell Packaging presented them with a cheque for £4,553.83, to help the process of recovery for their Secret Garden area.

It was vandalised last Christmas, with plants and pots smashed, the water feature was broken, and the pagoda and much-loved mosaic damaged.

Tina Azzopardi, the manager of Eldene Pre-School parents committee said: “When we found out that Wasdell would cover all the cost of our plans, we were over the moon; it was like Christmas had come early.

“It’s very rare that businesses are as generous as that, and the children will be very happy with their new play equipment.

“We hope to have the work started as soon as the weather allows. As a charity-run pre-school, our fees cover our staff costs and the resources needed for the children, so we need to fundraise all through the year to pay for these exciting extras.

“We run the pre-school for the benefit of all of the community and we have children here from very diverse backgrounds, so lots of local families will benefit from our improved play area.”

The garden had only been transformed last summer by volunteers and parents, and the pre-school was heartbroken to find the damage. Parents of the pre-school’s children rallied around to make the area safe and enjoyable again for the children, but the entire garden area was left in need of refurbishment.

Tina Azzopardi approached Wasdell Packaging to see if they could help them with their plans to replace the safety floor in the outside play area, as well as for refurbishing their climbing frame.

Martin Tedham, managing director of Wasdell, said: “When we heard about Eldene Pre-School’s need we knew we had to help.

“With over 600 of our staff based in Swindon, providing children in the town with the opportunity to learn outside and play is very important to us.

“We were very disappointed to hear about the vandalism and need for refurbishment, however hopefully the current and future children in the pre-school will have hours of fun in their new playground.”

Gina Dawkins Wasdell’s group head of quality, presented the cheque on behalf of Wasdell Packaging to Tina, together with pre-schoolers Jules, Imogen and Thomas.